this is a picture I took at Hinkley Park the other day. This was my third pass over the bridge, (I’ll supply the picture of that as well.) and looking into the water, I saw the cutest baby turtle at just under 3 inches around. The baby is an Eastern Painted Turtle, which are common in this area. I’ve seen a lot of the turtles, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a baby.

I don’t get out to Hinkley Park as often as I like, but I will always be grateful for one thing; that is, the lesson I learned at this park.

A few years ago, I would ride my bike past this park almost daily, but it looked more like a parking lot with a power station. The only indication I had that it was a park was the sign next to the road. When I did get around to going further in, I was highly surprised to find a beautiful nature trail surrounding two beautiful ponds.

At this point I think I should back track a little. I’m the type of nature photographer that has a list of subjects that I want to photograph while I still live in Maine. One of those subjects was a turtle sunning itself out of the water. This is where Hinkley Park came in handy.

Now that we’ve circled that wagon, it’s time complete the circle and talk about the lesson I learned from this. When I first started walking around the ponds, I heard there were turtles in them, and that this was a great place for finding them, however, I couldn’t find them at first. Two years ago, I was walking around taking shots, with no real direction when I saw a turtle by accident, swimming under the bridge I was crossing. After a short time, and a little more practice, I got to the point where I couldn’t stop finding them.

Now, every time I go to Hinkley Park, I can take as many shots as I want, because I know how to find them.

The lesson I gained from this, for those who didn’t get it yet, when you have a hard time finding solutions to problems, always remember the solutions are there. All you need is a little time, and practice, before you start seeing them all the time.

Having a baby! It’s a life-changing event for both men and women. In the past, women would have showers and the men would just slap each other hard on the back, congratulate the father, and get back to work. In modern society, men and women can both have baby showers, but when you try to combine them, either the father or mother-to-be end up uncomfortable. The best thing is to plan separate showers; however, two showers can be costly. The woman’s shower always has been, and always will be the most important shower, and therefore the most expensive.

If you plan on throwing the father-to-be a shower, here are some tips on throwing a shower a man can feel comfortable with, at a reduced cost to you as the host, or hostess.

Decorating: The best advice I can give for decorating is “don’t”. If you send a man into a room with pastel colored streamers, and balloons, you’ll lose them to the sports bar in record time, to cleanse their disgusted egos of the horrific image.

The more you try to make it like a regular party, the longer they will stay.

Games: try to make the games as athletic as possible. Here’s one I came up with. Have a life-size picture of a baby with its arms straight up in the air, mounted on something durable so that it can stand up. Put a piece of masking tape on the floor across the room from where you place the picture. Then have each man throw a nerf football, and try to get it between the arms. The men who do get it in the right spot, get a prize.

Good prizes don’t have to cost a lot. Anywhere from five to ten dollars is a perfect range.

Gifts: Gifts should be wrapped in solid colors. Any sign of wrapping with pink teddy bears, or babies on clouds, and you can find him at the sports bar.

The best gifts for the father-to-be usually come with the label, “some assembly required”; things like cribs or strollers. This is a great way to show you think of him as part of a mother/father team.

Guests: Make sure that the guest list is all male, Even one woman in the bunch can throw off the balance, and someone is left feeling uncomfortable again.

Food: Dainty finger sandwiches and pink candy are great for a woman’s shower, but a “little” sandwich to a man is a six-inch sub. The best way to save money on this is to make the shower pot luck. Not only do you save money, but also there will be plenty of food.

One final tip, get help planning from the guests you invite. You would be amazed at what kind of ideas they could give you. This is also the challenge.